:    V 

'■>':•■ 


THE    OLD    DAME 


NEW    YORK: 
LEAVITT      &      ALLEN, 


h^^4  (Zt^&,Js/tsv 


THE    OLD   DAME 


AND 


HER  SILYER  SIXPENCE, 


Once  upon  a  time  an  old  Dame  was  sweep- 
ing out  her  cottage,  when,  to  her  great  joy, 
she  found  a  silver  sixpence.  The  good 
Dame  sat  down  to  think  what  she  should 
do  with  such  a  good  piece  of  luck,  for  you 
must  know  that  in  days  gone  by,  a  silver 

sixpence  was  worth  much  more  than  it  is 

1 

cr 

CO 


THE     OLD     DAM 


now-a-days,  and  first  of  all  she  thought  she 
would  buy  a  fat  duck,  and  then  she  thought 
she  would  buy  a  hen  that  laid  eggs  well, 
but  after  thinking  and  thinking  for  a  long, 
long  time,  she  thought  she  would  buy  a  pig ! 
So  the  old  Dame  put  up  her  broom  in  the 
closet,  and  then  got  out  her  best  high-heeled 
shoes,  and  her  best  cap,  and  her  steeple- 
crowned  hat,  and  made  herself  very  smart, 
and  then  taking  her  good  old  stick,  the  old 
Dame  sat  out  for  the  market  town  close  by. 

The  way  to  the  town  was  through  green 
lanes  and  across  large  meadows,  and  as  the 
old  Dame  clambered  over  the  stile  at  the 
end  of  the  meadow,  she  sat  on  the  top  to 
rest  herself,  and  to  think  again  on  her  good 
luck. 


« 


THE     OLD    DAME. 


Then  she  went  on  again  till  she  came  to 
the  town,  and  she  went  straight  to  the  mar- 
ket-place, and  there  she  found  a  boy  with  a 
nice  white  pig  to  sell;  so,  after  a  little 
bargaining,  she  gave  the  boy  the  silver  six- 
pence for  the  white  pig,  and  then  she  tied  a 
piece  of  string  to  one  of  the  pig's  hind  legs, 
and  began  to  drive  him  home. 

Piggy  went  through  the  streets  very  well, 
only  grunting  sometimes  and  running  into 
the  gutter  when  he  saw  anything  he  could 
eat,  until  at  last  they  came  to  the  stile  into 
the  meadow.  The  old  Dame  tried  to  lift  the 
pig  over  the  lower  bar  of  the  stile,  but  he 
squeaked,  and  grunted,  and  wriggled  about 
till  the  old  Dame  was  quite  tired,  and  then 
piggy  laid  clown  and  would  not  stir. 

3 


THE     OLD     DAME 


Just  then  a  little  dog  came  trotting  up, 
so  the  old  Dame  said  to  him, — 

"Good  dog,  bite  pig,  pig  will  not  get  over 
the  stile,  and  I  shall  not  get  home  to- 
night." 

But  the  dog  would  not. 


So  the  old  Dame  held  up  her  stick  and 
said, — 

"Good  stick,  beat  dog;  dog  will  not  bite 
pig,  pig  will  not  get  over  the  stile,  and  I 
shall  not  get  home  to-night. 
•    But  the  stick  would  not. 


THE    OLD    DAME, 

So  the  old  Dame  gathered  some  bits  of 
wood  together,  and  set  them  on  fire,  and  then 
threw  her  stick  into  the  fire,  and  said, — 

"Good  fire,  burn  stick;  stick  will  not  beat 
dog,  dog  will  not  bite  pig,  pig  will  not  get 
over  the  stile,  and  I  shall  not  get  home  to- 
night.77 

But  the  fire  would  not. 


So  the  old  Dame  fetched  a  pail  of  water 
that  was  standing  near,  and  said, — 

"Good  water,  quench  fire;  fire  will  not 
burn  stick,  stick  will  not  beat  dog,  dog  will 
not  bite  pig,  pig  will  not  get  over  the  stile, 
and  I  shall  not  get  home  to-night.77 

But  the  water  would  not. 


%-<*{ 


^J^i  Uu 


THE     OLD  DAM 


So  the  old  Dame  turned  round  in  a  pas- 
sion, and  then  she  saw  an  ox  coming;  so  she 
said, — 

"Good  ox,  drink  water;  water  will  not 
quench  fire,  fire  will  not  burn  stick,  stick 
will  not  beat  dog,  dog  will  not  bite  pig,  pig 
will  not  get  over  the  stile,  and  I  shall  not 
get  home  to-night." 

But  the  ox  would  not. 


8 


THE     OLD  DAME 


So  the  old  Dame  turned  round  to  the  stile 
again,  and  then  she  saw  a  jolly  butcher 
leaning  on  the  stile ;  so  she  said  to  him, — 

"  Good  butcher,  kill  ox ;  ox  will  not  drink 
water,  water  will  not  quench  fire,  fire  will 
not  burn  stick,  stick  will  not  beat  dog,  dog 
will  not  bite  pig,  pig  will  not  get  over  the 
stile/  and  I  shall  not  get  home  to-night." 

But  the  butcher  would  not. 


10 


THE    OLD     DAME, 


So  the  old  Dame  took  a  rope  out  of  her 
pocket,  and  said, — 

"Good  rope,  hang  butcher;  butcher  will 
not  kill  ox,  ox  will  not  drink  water,  water 
will  not  quench  fire,  fire  will  not  burn  stick, 
stick  will  not  beat  dog,  dog  will  not  bite  pig, 
pig  will  not  get  over  the  stile,  and  I  shall 
not  get  home  to-night.'7 

But  the  rope  would  not. 


11 


THJE    OLD    DAME 


So  the  old  Dame  was  in  despair;  but 
just  then  a  large  brown  mouse  ran  across 
the  meadow,  and  she  said, — 

"Good  mouse,  gnaw  rope;  rope  will  not 
hang  butcher,  butcher  will  not  kill  ox,  ox 
will  not  drink  water,  water  will  not  quench 
fire,  fire  will  not  burn  stick,  stick  will  not 
beat  dog,  dog  will  not  bite  pig,  pig  will  not 
get  over  the  stile,  and  I  shall  not  get  home 
to-night." 


12 


13 


THE     OLD     DAME, 


"Yes,"  said  the  mouse,  "I  will,  if  you 
will  give  me  some  cheese." 

So  the  old  Dame  put  her  hand  in  her 
pocket  and  brought  out  a  nice  piece  of 
cheese  and  when  the  mouse  had  eaten  it — 


11 


THE     OLD     DAME, 


The  mouse  began  to  gnaw  the  rope,  thp 
*ope  began  to  hang  the  butcher,  the  butcher 
oegan  to  kill  the  ox,  the  ox  began  to  drink 
the  water,  the  water  began  to  quench  the 
fire,  the  fire  began  to  burn  the  stick,  the 
stick  began  to  beat  the  dog,  the  dog  begaa 
to  bite  the  pig, — the  pig  he  rushed  rig>t 
through  the  stile, 

And  so  the  old  Dame  got  home  in  time  V> 
boil  her  apple-dumplings. 


15 


